Subsidence or rising damp? Or something else?

[shellid]

Not a clue who to get out to look at this so any ideas would be great.

I noticed the kitchen floor has been going funny. The laminate has started separating in places and when you walk on it you can feel dips underneath that weren't previously there.

Then in the bedroom above the kitchen, 2 of the floorboards have randomly raised under the carpet.

Theres no leaks as far as I can tell, checked behind the washing machine and dishwasher. And under the kickboards, all dry.

This is the kitchen wall from outside and underneath the kitchen cabinets. Clearly needs addressing but who would I get out to fix? I'm going to remove the decking as I've been told that is covering the air bricks to that wall so could that be causing the problem there?

Thanks for any insight.

 

[Odds]

 

[JohnD]

obviously leaks. Looks like the drain is one source, might be blocked, might be broken, and the other is the boiler pressure release valve, which can be replaced by a gasman, but the kitchen floor is probably a plumbing pipe. You will have to take the decking up and have a look.

Stand back and take a wider pic of the whole wall, including the roof above, and especially the guttering, downpipes, drains, overflows and boiler vents.

You will have to take up the kitchen floor if it has gone spongy. This is pretty sure to be chipboard that has absorbed water from a kitchen leak. Wet chipboard is irreparable and it loses strength so you can fall through it. Take up the covering first to see what the damage is. When kitchen floors are covered with vinyl or other materials water can run under it and travel around the room.

The bedroom floor is probably a radiator pipe, unless it is next to a bathroom. Plumbing leak again. When you take up the carpet you will see where the wettest area is, usually at the source. Sometimes it might be a very very badly fitted window or roof leak.

There is almost never such a thing as "rising damp."

Do not allow anybody to enter your home who sells silicone injections.

 

[foxhole]

Staining to exterior is bad and points to problems caused by decking which may also hide other problems.

 

[shellid]

Here's a pic of the whole wall, there was a broken gutter where the window that's open was but I had a new roof, guttering and fascias fitted in May. You can see from the drain pic there's wood attatched to the house of the wall so definitely will be ripping the decking up next week.

The boiler was fitted in October and doesn't lose pressure at all so could that still be the pressure release valve?

As for the bedroom, the bathroom is to the right but a bit further back, the red line on the landing is the same raised floorboard that follows in to the bedroom. The bathroom taps were leaking a bit last week as noticed a patch on the kitchen ceiling but they are next to the sink and I had someone out to repair the taps. They are definitely not leaking any more.

 

[JohnD]

it looks like you have the soil pipe opening into a yard gulley. This is unacceptable. Do you have children in the house?

You need to get that decking up so you can see what's going on

It is very likely the drains in the ground are broken.

 

[shellid]

Yes I have 6 children in the house.

Not sure if it's relevant but there is a manhole cover for the waste pipes underneath the decking as well.

 

[RandomGrinch]

it looks like you have the soil pipe opening into a yard gulley. This is unacceptable

I'm afraid I disagree with you on this - the last pic shows the kitchen waste entering the gully, not the soil stack.

But, presumably the gully there would have been draining the yard; with the decking in place, I would wonder how effective it will now be.

Also, IMHO, the render may have been applied to cover up, or 'remedy' an existing damp issue, when it is possibly now exacerbating the problem.

 

[JohnD]

I'm afraid I disagree with you on this - the last pic shows the kitchen waste entering the gully, not the soil stack.

thanks, I see now.

 

[JohnD]

The pressure relief valve, if repaired, might have stopped leaking now. Look at the small copper pipe bent back so it discharges against the wall. If you put a plastic bag over it with a rubber band, you will see if water comes out when the boiler is hot. It is more common in winter when all the radiators are hot.

I think you might like to learn some basic plumbing, it will save you money. B&Q used to do introductory lessons, I don't know if there are still evenings classes or something.

 

[opps]

Can you take photos of the laminate flooring in the kitchen. Not my area of expertise but with regards to the upstairs photos, it looks like the bathroom vinyl flooring and carpet were laid directly over the floorboards. In time, carpet underlay will compress and show the differing heights of the floorboards (as will sponge backed vinyl).

 

[shellid]

The bit of laminate by the washer was damaged by a leak from my old washing machine a few years ago so had already separated a bit but it's got much worse over the last week or so.

And from the other pics, it's raising at the edges in places and then dipping when you stand on it in other places.

 

[JohnD]

when you lift it, I expect you will find water underneath.

Take up enough and you will see where the wettest part is, and probably track down the source

 

[opps]

There seems to be two different laminate floors in your photos.

As per @JohnD 's post it might be down to a leak that you haven't previously noticed... but that is very unlikely to affect upstairs. It may be the case that the kitchen laminate floor got wet (from above the floor). Sorry, difficult to tell from the photos

 

[shellid]

Okay thank you , will get it pulled up this week and see what i find. I'm pretty sure there's floorboards under the laminate so assuming I'll need to take some of them up too?